Would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid is sentenced to life in prison for trying to down an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. Reid had previously pleaded guilty. [1] (http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030130/D7OSP55G0)

An election in the state of Oregon to pass an temporary three-year income tax failed with 54% of the votes voting against and 44% voting for. This forced the first layoffs in the Oregon State Police[?] since its creation in 1934, and other actions including cutbacks in many of the local school districts.

The RIAA, a music industry lobbying group, announces that Hilary Rosen will step down as head of the organization at the end of 2003. Rosen achieved notoriety on the Internet for her prolific efforts to halt the spread of copyrightedmp3 recordings on peer to peer file sharing networks such as Napster and Kazaa. Reports indicate that the members of the RIAA are unhappy with Rosen's nearly total failure to achieve this goal. [2] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30286-2003Jan22)

An earthquake hits Mexico that is 7.6 on the Richter scale. The center of the earthquake was on located on the Pacific coast, in the State of Colima. Even in Mexico City, the capital 400 kilometres away from the center of the earthquake, the earthquake was felt.

As part of the plan to invade Iraq, British defence secretary Geoff Hoon announces that 26,000 British troops and equipment including 120 tanks will be sent to Kuwait, joining the 5,000 troops already on their way there. [4] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2675101.stm)

A series of bushfires engulfed portions of Canberra, the capital of Australia. About 500 homes were burnt when the bushfires hit Canberra with great suddenness and speed at about 14:00. 4 people died and over 60 hospital admissions were made, and about 240 persons were treated for injuries. The Mount Stromlo Observatory[?] was destroyed, and over 200 homes were burnt in the western suburb of Duffy. Some northwestern suburbs were also affected. The Australian Capital Territory government later declared a state of emergency. The afternoon sky turned dark or yellowish-grey and city residents saw a yellow-orange full moon that night.

War on terrorism: Three more suspects have been arrested in Manchester in England in connection with the investigation into ricin found in London, although it now appears as though the raid was initally carried out as the pursuance of an investigation into immigration issues. A Special Branch policeman, Stephen Oake, was fatally stabbed during the arrests, and three other officers were also injured, one seriously. This brings the total of those arrested to fourteen.

British humanitarian agency Care International[?] warns that the security situation in Afghanistan is "urgent" and warns that coalition troops should not redirect resources from security to nation-building efforts, as this could enable factional forces to overthrow the internationally backed government in Kabul. [7] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2656761.stm)

20,000 workers at US industrial giant General Electric go on strike in 23 states over a GE plan to require workers to pay more for health insurance benefits. [8] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2657557.stm)

George Ryan[?], Governor of Illinois, announced that he commuted the sentences of all 157 people on the state of Illinois' Death Row[?] to life in prison. "Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error: error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having? Because of all these reasons, today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates," Ryan said. Ryan's term of office expires on January 13.

A U.S. court ordered the controversial organization Clonaid, which claims that it produced a human clone, to reveal the identity and whereabouts of the alleged cloned baby.

War on Terrorism: British police announced details of the discovery of traces of the toxin ricin in a flat in Wood Green in North London in the wake of the arrest of 6 terrorist suspects. The timing of this news coincided with a major speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair dealing with the threat of terrorism and Britain's relationship with the U.S.A.

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced details of the call-up of reservists in the miltary build-up calculated to increase pressure on Iraq.

French President Jacques Chirac, in a New Year's message to French forces, stated that French forces should be prepare to be activated if the United Nations decides on military action in Iraq.

Three Wise Men day celebrated all over Latin America. A tradition for centuries in Latin America, the Three Wise Men day is the official ending of Christmas on most Latin American countries. During this day, most Latin American children will receive presents just as if it was another Christmas Day.

U.S. plan to invade Iraq: Turkey's Milliyet[?] newspaper published a picture showing tanks at an airstrip that it said was the disused Bamerni air base[?] inside Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. If this report is true, this may be the first evidence of a NATO military presence in Iraq. [11] (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1992108)

The Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States proposes rules which will require all Americans traveling abroad to disclose detailed personal information both before leaving the country and before being permitted to re-enter the country. [12] (http://www.startribune.com/stories/1631/3571435)

Journalist Geoff Mackley [13] (http://www.geoffmackley.com) reports after a helicopter mission that the Cyclone Zoe led to no casualties on the island of Tikopia[?], even though devastation was enormous. The 1,000 inhabitants of the island survived in caves. Reports that they had already resumed their daily occupations like fishing are misleading: they were "fishing" for their possesions that were blown out to sea. The situation on the island of Anuta[?] with 600 inhabitants is not known yet.

Oil leakage from the sunken tankerPrestige threatens the southwestern coast of France. The prefect of Aquitaine reported a slick from the tanker is 50 kilometers (30 standard miles) from the coast. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin promised 50 million euros for the cleanup. The Prestige, which carried 77,000 tonnes of crude oil, sunk in late November, 2002, off the coast of the Galician region of Spain.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to a report in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz[?] which stated that Israel had complied with a U.S. request to suspend all contracts on the exports of arms and security equipment from China to Israel. Israeli Defence Ministry Director-General Amos Yaron[?] stated that Israel intends to "track down" all security ties with China. An unnamed senior Israeli official stated that the Americans were using the pretext of protecting Taiwan to cover a proposed shift of American policy to allow direct arms sales to China.

The Turkish-registered tanker Vicky, with 70,000 tonnes of diesel cargo, struck the wreck of the sunken auto carrier Tricolor off the coast of Dunkirk, France. The double-hulled tanker freed itself from the wreck with the rising tide and sailed a mile off to check for leakage. The Vicky is the second ship to strike the wreck of the Tricolor since the carrier sank on December 14, 2002.